2000 GMC Sonoma - Red Remembrance

Gone But Not Forgotten

Not all projects come together in vain. This super clean Sonoma was built by Nick Fox as a memorial monument for its previous owner who passed away. But don’t get the wrong idea, the truck isn’t left in the garage and covered until it’s time to show it off. Nick feels that putting the tires and frame to the streets keeps the fond memories and spirit of his lost loved one alive.

"James Randich was a close friend’s grandfather who I was close with," Nick says, "when he passed away, the truck was handed down to his nephew, but after he joined the Marines, the truck was left without an owner and was offered to me by his wife." At first, Nick took things slow and dropped the truck a modest 2 inches and picked out a set of 18s to roll on. It was his daily driver at the time, and heavily cutting into his new gift just wasn’t in the cards yet financially or sentimentally. Soon enough, a new job came Nick’s way, which afforded him the luxury of purchasing a new daily. The time to truly immortalize James’ memory had come.

The total transformation lasted 6 years, and in that time, Nick learned quite a bit. First, setting a deadline is not always good for the flow of a build, but planning a general outline would’ve helped avoid retracing steps. Along the way, Nick also became a much better MIG welder, but the most meaningful lesson he’s walked away with is the sense of support that surrounds the custom car/truck culture. "I met a lot of great people, and I went from not saying much while in a crowd to people telling me to shut up. Most everyone I’ve met has gone out of their way to help. My dad has taught me his love for cars at a young age and always supported me throughout the build, and helped whenever he could."

With the rolling memorial complete and shined to perfection, Nick has just one more statement to make before his story comes to an end, "The sense of accomplishment from the looks to the thumbs up from people and being able to look at the truck and say ‘that’s mine’ after seeing and reading about them since 2006 when I started reading Mini Truckin’ is unreal. Back then, the truck I see now was just a crazy idea.

"… putting the tires and frame to the streets keeps the fond memories and spirit of his lost loved one alive."

Special Thanks From Owner
"Thanks to Jeff and Greg Cash for all the paint and bodywork, Bill Baltikas for the garage space and help while ‘bagging, Gus of Hot Rod Playground for the interior, everyone in my Balistik family for helping whenever needed, my parents and sister for their support, my dad who has taught me most of what I know about cars, and to the Fonck and Randich families for allowing me to build a rolling tribute to James."